Post Office scandal victim upset by £60k bill for legal fees

A former Surrey sub-postmistress who was wrongly jailed while pregnant during the Post Office’s Horizon IT scandal says she has been caused “great upset” by a demand of £60,000 for legal fees.

Seema Misra, who ran a post office in West Byfleet, was one of more than 900 sub-postmasters convicted of theft, fraud and false accounting based on faulty computer data between 1999 and 2015.

Solicitor Nick Gould worked on a pro bono basis to get her conviction overturned in 2021, and Ms Misra then agreed to pay for any further legal work. But she said she has received “no details” as to exactly what work he had done since.

Mr Gould has not responded to BBC Surrey’s request for a response.

Ms Misra was jailed for 15 months in 2010 after being accused of stealing £74,000 from her Post Office branch.

She was sent to Bronzefield prison on the day of her eldest son’s 10th birthday, and gave birth to her youngest child while still in prison.

In April she was one of four leading campaigners to receive an OBE for their service to justice.

Since her conviction was quashed, Ms Misra has received an undisclosed amount of interim compensation, but has not yet received the final settlement.

The BBC understands that Ms Misra signed a retainer in 2021, after her conviction was quashed, for the provision of “commercial legal services” provided by Mr Gould moving forward.

It was agreed Mr Gould would charge for his time at a fixed hourly rate.

However, emails seen by the BBC show Mr Gould has since claimed that this agreement was changed to one where Ms Misra would pay the lesser of £60,000 or 5% of any compensation she received from the Post Office.

Despite Ms Misra paying Mr Gould more than £20,000, she disputes this later agreement and says she has been given no details of what time Mr Gould in fact spent working on her case.

At the time, Mr Gould was working for Aria Grace Law, who said he was removed from professional duties at the firm in January, “following serious concerns regarding his conduct”.

A spokesperson for Aria Grace said: “Mr Gould does not and must not be taken to speak for Aria Grace.”

They said the firm stood with the victims of the Post Office scandal, and honoured their resilience.

“We condemn any conduct that seeks to exploit their trust or harm their recovery,” they added.

Ms Misra said she would “always be grateful” for the support Mr Gould gave her.

But on being asked to pay £60,000 for legal services provided by Mr Gould since her conviction was overturned, she said: “I felt uneasy but I trusted Nick that this must be correct if he, a solicitor, was telling me so.”

Despite paying in excess of £20,000, in May she received a legal letter on behalf of Mr Gould’s current legal firm, Impact Lawyers, saying she would be sued if she did not pay what they said was outstanding.

Nick Wallis, a former BBC journalist who continues to cover the Post Office’s Horizon IT scandal, told BBC Radio Surrey that Ms Misra had contacted him “in some distress”.

“All Seema wanted to know was what work he had done to justify the bill,” he added.

Although Mr Gould has not responded to the BBC’s request for comment, he is reported to have told Nick Wallis: “The full facts and the whole truth are important.

“I am extremely sorry that Mrs Misra and apparently perhaps others felt it necessary to make numerous unsubstantiated allegations against me.

“The allegations made against me are incorrect.”

Ms Misra said she wanted to avoid conflict with Mr Gould “after all his pro bono support for us and because my family and I have already been through quite enough”.

She added: “I asked for details of exactly what work he had done since my conviction was set aside to justify this, but have received no details.

“Last month I received a letter from lawyers representing Nick Gould’s current legal firm, Impact Lawyers, telling me I would be sued if I did not pay what they said was outstanding.”

She said she would defend the case if his firm sued her.

“I don’t think Nick has acted as a solicitor should and the whole thing has caused me and my family great upset,” she added.

“I hope Nick Gould and Impact… will now do the right thing and drop the matter so that we don’t have to carry on worrying about it and spending further time on it.”

A spokesperson for Impact Lawyers told the BBC they were unable to comment.